2013 U.S. Open Saturday Recap - Men's Division
Jonathan Neeley
Posted: July 7, 2013 07:50 AM
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Men's Division:
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"I think we need to educate people on what a break is," said Josh Hartzog, a U.S. Open volunteer. "What it means to score on defense."
Breaks are simple: they’re goals scored by the team that pulls the disc. But they’re hard to come by because offenses at this level are well coordinated and highly skilled. Forcing turnovers from teams like Ironside and Ring of Fire is hard enough, and there’s often little energy left for playing offense once you have the disc.
Teams that overcome this challenge and get breaks are the ones that win tournaments, and Saturday’s Ironside vs. Ring semifinal was a reminder of that. Ring scored the game’s first two breaks to take a 3-0 lead, a power move that would set a tone different from their Thursday pool play game against Boston. Ring leaned on a handler-heavy attack to break the mark and open up space for downfield cutters that have struggled to get open all weekend.
"It’s still a timing thing," said Ring assistant Mike DeNardis of his team’s downfield miscues. "It’ll come. Ring has been a traditional hucking team, but we need to start moving the disc more, especially with the talent we have at the handler level."
Ironside broke once in the first half to make the score 5-3, but their failure to do so again two points later allowed Ring to maintain control of the first half’s momentum. Boston couldn’t convert after Rusty Ingold-Smith called a timeout on the goal line, and after a timeout of their own Ring secured a crucial hold to make the score 6-4. Micah Hood’s layout block against Danny Clark earned Ring another turn that they would convert to take half 8-5.
Crucial to Ring’s first half success was their line calling strategy – rather than stick to the open rotation of handlers and cutters they had been using to spread playing time around all weekend, the team started calling stronger lines at big moments in the game. "A couple breaks in a game like this makes a lot of difference," said DeNardis. "We decided to go for the lead early."
The second half was a different story: Ring did not break Ironside once. Boston captain George Stubbs found Josh Markette with a full-field flick huck, Danny Clark ripped down an impressive sky over Ring’s Ken Porter on Boston’s next offensive possession, and Boston fought through Ring’s aggressive, sometimes too aggressive, play (Jarrett Bowen was issued two TMFs in one point) to find their rhythm on offense. The question was whether Ironside could force turnovers and convert breaks against a Ring unit that had already done the same to them.
Ironside captain Russell Wallack answered in the affirmative when, at 12-10 in favor of Ring, he laid out for a block that Stubbs would convert to Alex Simmons. On the next point, Noah Saul underthrew a huck to Brett Matzuka, and Seth Reinhardt elevated to bring the score to 12-12. It was the first tie since the game’s start at 0-0.
Ring held on the next point and Boston the one after. But double game point was anticlimactic: Saul and Matzuka miscommunicated on what looked like it should hae been an easy swing, and Boston’s Ingold-Smith picked off the pass. His team broke for the win a few throws later.
Stubbs spoke after the game about what it takes to make a late-game charge. "You make a few strategic adjustments and manufacture some energy. That’s what it takes. You do the little things to try to get the momentum back on your side. Ring was in the defensive position there, and we had nothing to lose. They tightened up a ton and stopped throwing those around breaks, and we started to get the turns."
Ironside converted each of its late break chances without turning the disc back over. "I think our D’s offense has done a much better job as we proceeded through the weekend," said Wallack. "We’ve definitely been tracking our efficiency on break opportunities, and we’ve been pretty satisfied. Sometimes [incompletions come from] first day jitters."
"Our D line does a great job of sticking with the game plan," said Wallack. "At some point you start picking up on what they’re doing, and you start to put yourself in positions to make a play. For an O line, if you have to fight hard all game, at some point, there’s going to be a mental mistake."
Revolver took down Doublewide 15-6 in the second men’s semifinal, setting up a rematch of yesterday’s Ironside vs. Revolver game that Ironside won 15-14.
San Francisco coach Mike Payne was emphatic that his team was unaffected by the loss. "The team doesn’t mind losing," he said. "We lost to Ironside and players hung their heads for five seconds, and that was it. There’s intellectual gain from a loss, and that’s huge. We learned to bounce back from a loss, and it’s extremely rare a team that wins Nationals without one. It’s all about how ‘how much more learning can we do as a team?’"
Photos by UltiPhotos.com (Extended highlights: Pool Play / Semis)
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